Joanna Riding (born Joanne Riding; 9 November 1967) is an English actress. For her work in West End musicals, she has won two Laurence Olivier Awards, and has been nominated for three others.
Early life
Riding was born in Preston, Lancashire, England, growing up on a farm, where her father ran a successful cheese-making business.[citation needed] She received theatre training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School from 1986 to 1989.[1]
On 12 May 2002 she appeared in the Richard Rodgers' Tribute Gala 'Some Enchanted Evening' at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, which was broadcast on BBC Four and has since been released on DVD. At the concert she performed the song "An Old Man" from Two by Two.
Riding performed the role of Ruth in Blithe Spirit in 2004 on tour at the Milton Keynes Theatre and Theatre Royal, Bath, and at the Savoy Theatre in London.[5] in 2004 she appeared in The Royal as Sheena, a woman suffering from post natal depression. In 2006 she played PC Rob Walker’s sister Ange in Heartbeat, when he married Dr Helen Trent in the episode ‘Keeping Secrets’.
From 1 December 2008 to 29 May 2010, Riding starred as Mrs. Wilkinson in the London production of Billy Elliot the Musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre. She took maternity leave from the show between 23 December 2008 and 24 August 2009 when the role was played by Kate Graham. Following this, she headlined a one-off concert on 24 October 2010 at Freedom Bar in Soho called Sondheim in Reverse, as part of the composer's 80th birthday celebrations.
In 2011, Riding starred in two musicals at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End. From 5 March to 21 May she played Madame Emery in the Kneehigh Theatre Company's musical adaptation of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.[6] The production had its try-out at Leicester's Curve Theatre from 11 to 26 February. A month later, from 6 June to 6 August[7] she played jealous Italian mistress Maria Merelli in the London production of Lend Me A Tenor.
In 2013 she appeared in the Sky1 TV comedy series Stella as Melissa. Riding also portrayed Valerie Hobson in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Stephen Ward, and was one of few elements of the production to be praised by every major critic.
In September 2016 it was announced that Riding would take the leading role of Annie in The Girls musical written by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth to open at The Phoenix Theatre, London on 27 January 2017.[8]
^"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link),
